not seen by PWįorecast: If booksellers position Roberts's book as a history of early America-and not as a women's studies text-it could have greater appeal. If only our standard history textbooks were written with such flair! 7 illus. Benedict Arnold's infamy, she proclaims, 'Peggy was in it from the beginning.' Roberts also has an ear for juicy quotes she recounts Aaron Burr's mother, Esther, bemoaning that when talking to a man with 'mean thoughts of women,' her tongue 'hangs pretty loose,' so she 'talked him quite silent.' In addition to telling wonderful stories, Roberts also presents a very readable, serviceable account of politics-male and female-in early America. The book begins with the momentous task of demolishing the prejudices attached with the phrase founding fathers that has held an immense sway over. Roberts's style is delightfully intimate and confiding: on the debate over Mrs. As high-profile players married into each other's families, as wives died in childbirth and husbands remarried, it seems as if early America-or at least its upper crust-was indeed a very small world. In rough chronological order, Roberts introduces a variety of women, mostly wives, sisters or mothers of key men, exploring how they used their wit, wealth or connections to influence the men who made policy.

Hannah Winthrop Abigail Adams BirthplaceĪbigail Adams was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams.ABC News political commentator and NPR news analyst Roberts didn't intend this as a general history of women's lives in early America-she just wanted to collect some great 'stories of the women who influenced the Founding Fathers.' For while we know the names of at least some of these women (Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Eliza Pinckney), we know little about their roles in the Revolutionary War, the writing of the Constitution, or the politics of our early republic. Dolly Madison, an American icon for 2 decades 24. Teachers will love the book for the classroom. The illustration evokes the time, using watercolor, sepia, and antique pens and inkwells. The prose is accessible, often conversational.

Abigail Adams, America’s first voice for Women’s Rights 2. Founding Mothers is a welcome corrective to history, putting both a human and female face on the American Revolution. Travel Guide The women behind American Independenceġ.

Founding mothers book